Ranger, Oreo, and Mabel arrived at SAFE last month from Pierce County Animal Control. They were seized from their owner after multiple incidents in which the three horses escaped their pasture and were found roaming about the neighborhood and on the road, which can be VERY dangerous. There was a bit of a protracted court battle over them between the owners and the county, but eventually they were signed over to SAFE.
Ranger is an Apploosa-type gelding in his early 20s. He takes good care of his two friends, and he’s proved quite easy for humans to handle as well. Since his arrival at SAFE, he’s been vaccinated, had his hooves trimmed and his teeth floated, and was seen by our vet for a possible infection in one of his ears. This involved multiple flushings, which he understandably did not care for. We also ran blood tests and discovered that Ranger has Cushings Disease, so he’s now taking medication daily to combat that. As I said, he’s a sweet old fella who could use a loving home to live out his days in. He’ll be offered for adoption as a Companion horse.
Oreo is a striking black mare with white points and beautiful blue eyes. She’s the eldest of the group at approximately 25 years of age. She’s received the same routine vet care that Ranger got, and for the most part, she’s in pretty good shape. She does have a cyst in her left eye that doesn’t appear to be affecting her vision, and is not the kind that causes discomfort or pain. She’s also a little stiff in the hind end, but our vet didn’t find any obvious causes for it, so we’re going to keep an eye on her. She may benefit from a medication like Equioxx, which is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that she’d be given every day.
Little Mabel is the youngest of the group at approximately 8 years old. Word is that she was the mastermind behind the trio’s previous escape attempts. She’s very sweet and friendly, and we like her a lot. Her vet exam revealed two sad things. During her dental float, it was discovered that she had a hugely overgrown top molar, caused when the bottom molar was removed. Our vet took it down as far as she could but Mabel will be seeing the dentist again in another couple months since there’s only so much that can be removed at one time. She also has a mature cataract causing nearly complete blindness in one eye. This does not seem to slow our girl down at all, but again, we’ll be keeping an eye on it.
If you would like to change your monthly sponsorship to support any of these horses, please reach out to me at bonnie@safehorses.org and I’ll take care of updating your records.
Thank you so much for your monthly gift to support the horses at SAFE. We are so very grateful for your help!